Negotiating

“You're just being annoying, you realize,” Fantasia rolls her eyes, “We didn't install any automatic weapons systems, and we have like two people in here right now who can just tear through the doors. Your threat is rather toothless.”

“Sampson, I could use a hug…” Ms. Fox whispers to the intergalactic treaty violation, who hugs her, seemingly melting and forming the black and green armor, covering Irene fully and properly outfitting the woman as Iron Fox.

“Oh, there's more teeth here than you might think,” the voice chuckles, “I'm obviously inside your security system. Do you really think I can't open the doors for my soldiers? The drone discovery just means a few alterations to my timetable.”

Angela steps back from the table and focuses a moment, her velcro clothing popping off of her body as she grows to her full super height. The giant nude wolf woman calmly pulls what would be a massively oversized string bikini on anyone else out of her purse, and starts putting it on.

Meanwhile, Fantasia continues to taunt the terrible tyrant, “Do you really think they'll be in any shape to fight after trudging through this weather?”

“What is the weather over there right…” the voice starts distractedly, then pauses, “...ah. Well, that's actually good news for me: All I need to do is shut off your heat.” The air vents stop blowing, and the voice continues, “soon enough, you'll all freeze to ****. Oh, the prototype will keep Irene warm, I'm sure, but when the good doctor dies, well… everyone else will, instead. Then I just turn the heat back on, and have a single hero between my servants and my prize.”

“You do realize the flaw there, right?” Ms. Blackheart laughs.

“Oh, I just need to send in enough of my mutant minions that he can't eat them all,” the voice cackles, “the ‘good’ doctor is not that hard to overwhelm.”

‘Actually,’ Benjamin thinks, ‘Sampson is close enough to a living thing that the tactic would destroy your prize, even assuming everything else goes according to plan, which we'll make sure it won't. Idiot.’

“How people like you maintain the loyalty of those who serve you is beyond me,” Fantasia shakes her head, “but I think we're done here. Iron Fox, please kill the mics and cameras, but do remember we're going to need to repair things when this is over.”

“I'll lower the output as far as it will go,” Irene's voice comes from the suit with a metallic tang as she systemically shoots four small bumps on the ceiling with some kind of energy beam… resulting in the devices melting along with the surrounding few inches of stone facing, dripping down to the floor as lava.

“Heat is really not going to be an issue, then…” Ms. Blackheart shakes her head, “even if the place wasn't heavily insulated, already warm, and huge. We have DAYS before it gets cold enough to matter.”

“Don't like, forget,” Irene adds, “this place is on geothermal. It's totally heated by the inefficiency in the power production rather than the electricity. We're still going to, like, be getting SOME heat working through the walls from the core… we may get cold, but we totally won't freeze.”

“We might eventually suffocate, though…” the doctor considers, “we used a lot of rather dense concrete.”

“Even that will take, like, days,” Iron Fox shrugs, “these rooms are big… and we can open a wall if need be.”

Fantasia nods, “until he or his his army get here, this joker is just an annoyance. So: Priorities?”

“Security room,” Angela signs, “Get control.”

“We should also check up on the staff,” Dr. Beaux adds, “it's hardly the girls' first rodeo, but I am SO tired of hostage situations, I'd rather this not become one.”

“Like, identifying where everyone got stuck will be totes easy,” Irene comments, “once we get the cameras back.”

“True,” the doctor nods, “I can agree on the security room as our first destination, then.”

“Then let's go…” Ms. Blackheart heads for the appropriate door… which doesn't open for her palm print.

“Allow me,” Werhure signs, then when the witch steps aside, the wolf slips her claws through the gap between the double doors and forces them open…

“He was like, playing us, then…” Iron Fox comments when everyone sees what's on the other side.